Damning with semantics turns forest into weeds
By KEN MIDKIFF
Published Friday, February 15, 2008
(http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2008/feb/20080215comm004.asp)

Weeds? A mature oak-hickory forest on a steep slope is nothing more than weeds?

Well, if you believe Almeta Crayton, that’s what it is. She said in the Columbia City Council discussion about adding an automobile dealership to the Crosscreek project that what was there before looked like "weeds" to her.

Ignoring for the moment that the current First Ward city council member was likely acting as nothing more than a mouthpiece for developers - who are providing the main financial support for her attempted re-election - her remark about "weeds" is telling.

We’re losing acres and acres of open and green space per month, and there’s little left in Columbia or Boone County. Now those who develop retail shop subdivisions and strip malls are eyeing the remnants. That means they must consider lands that a few years ago were deemed undesirable. Those undesirable lands are steep, wooded and filled with native flora and fauna. Oak, hickory, ash, whitetailed deer, turkey, bobcat, finches of various types, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and wildflowers galore abound.

For these attributes to be dismissed as "weeds" is an insult and an offense to every person in this city and county who cares deeply about conservation. Rather than despoiling what we have, we need to act to protect the amenities that make this area unique.

If we want to emulate Blue Springs or the area south of St. Charles, we’re well on our way. There’s precious little open and green land in those areas, and now those who look at green and see only money have their eyes on lands in Blue and Missouri rivers’ flood plains. Huddling behind massive levees - built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with our money - almost every square inch of Jackson and St. Charles counties is soon to be the home of retailers. The Gap, Old Navy, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Office Depot and Lowe’s win, and everyone else loses.

That is what we have to look forward to here if Crayton and her ilk prevail. The Geography of Nowhere, in which the only way Columbia is differentiated from Lawrence, Kan., is by the city limits signs. Welcome to Columbia. Thanks to those signs, at least we will know where we are.

There is a problem with our land disturbance ordinances and with our rezoning ordinances if all the trees, shrubs and grasses can be removed and dirt carried from high up to low down - and then those who carried out this destruction can be rewarded with the zoning designation they desire. When there’s no more land in St. Charles or Jackson counties, the bulldozers, backhoes, dump trucks and earthmovers will come here.

If Almeta is re-elected, she’ll apparently welcome them with open arms. Whack down those weeds, scrape the earth bare and move the exposed dirt around so that the area becomes retail-friendly. Never mind what neighborhood associations want and what developers initially sign off on. Get the area rezoned, agree to everything the neighbors want, then come back to the city council and ask for changes.

After hearing hours of discussion and continued opposition from the neighborhood association, neighbors and concerned citizens, the city council then tables the matter so as to not vote "no." Getting to "yes" is always the right thing to do by the reckoning of longtime council members. Especially when replacing a mature forest with a Taco Bell.